| Topic Name: |
You've got...Personality |
| Message Name: |
Profiling |
| Date Posted: |
02/20/2000 |
| In Reply To: |
Yesterday the temp agency that sent me on my assignment gave me a phone interview as a part of their procedures because the company that I have an assignment with wants to hire me.
The gal with whom I spoke opened by saying that "we want to find out what you're thinking and feeling about different things". Okay, no problem. But let's examine this a bit more closely...
My social science background and job hunting led me to a topic in psychology that deals with people's temperaments and personality traits. Some companies profile candidates by trying to categorize them via the Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator or the Keirsey Temperament sorter, the same things so far as I know. (Incidentally, job seekers may want to go to Keirsey.com to learn more about their type and the different types.)
The long and short of this is, even though people have known about personality types since the ancient Greeks became aware of them, most people don't consciously think about it, at least in this type of formal way. A world of difference exists between stereotyping someone because of the way he or she acts, and saying, for example, "hmm, that person seems like an ENTP". I want job seekers to know that HR people use personality typing to screen out candidates for their own reasons.
I went to a job fair in August and had an HR person critique my resume. She figured out my personality type - precisely - and I know that not because she told me, but because I discovered through my research that she had categorized me as a certain type of person, and was correct. People who do something all day, every day can become quite good at it, and she is no exception. Not all HR people are as friendly and magnanimous as she was that day, however...
Yesterday, the person on the other end of the phone asked me fifteen or twenty questions, to determine extroverted vs. introverted and et cetera. One of the questions was asked to determine whether I am a judging person or a perceiving person. We went back and forth a few times and I finally said, "I'm not that much of a perceptive person". My interviewer was shocked and it took her a few seconds to recover. It was rather funny - I'm sure the interviewer thought that no one she talked to knew what exactly she was doing, but now she can't assume that any more.
I hate to be categorized and I want to maximize my chances of getting a job. And, for example, in the U.S. many people have an overt bias against introversion, so who knows if a firm would hold that against you (firms also probably lean against perceivers). Being prepared for this type of interview will help you to learn about yourself, and while I don't advocate lying, you can present a professional image of yourself that is authentic, rather than unwittingly get sucked into being brashly (and perhaps wrongly!) categorized, then eliminated. The greatest danger that HR people present (this time) is improper use and abuse of social science.
econ |
| Message: |
Econdude my buddy,
Have you ever read George Orwell's book '1984'? Jeez, don't let them conduct a personality profile on you. Minorities are up at arms over profiling, and are they wrong?
Your experience sounds like a nightmare. I think you are probably a young guy and have probably been taught the need of cooperation in this world. But I think your experience crossed over the line. One of the reasons I am a contractor is because I was subjected to this crap in the corporate world. As a contractor I won't put up with that invasion from a junior HR person that was told to do that by her 30 year old boss. I suggest that you can get a job in this world without letting them subject you to such indignation. You are right that this is an abuse. How do YOU know that THEY are qualified to judge your personality? Did YOU give them permission to type case you?
Get ready buddy because all those HR people, as they are prone to do, are going to tell you and me we have bad attitudes, just plain wrong, and our attitudes getting in our way. Can you hear the gears in their head going Econdude???
Well my friend - DON'T LISTEN TO THEM. You need not be subjected to the 3rd degree just to get a job. Walk out and try someone else - it's a good job market out there. Good luck!
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